Pages

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A Study in Psalms...Psalm 57

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me;

God sends his love and his faithfulness.

I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts--

Men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

They spread a net for my feet--I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path--but they have fallen into it themselves.

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.

For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 57

David is the author of this Psalm, as well as the others I have written about so far. At the time of Psalm 57, David has fled from Saul, and has taken refuge in a cave. He cries out to his Father, for mercy, for safety, and for rescue, and then immediately turns to give praise and exaltation to God.

This Psalm spoke to me for a number of reasons. I absolutely love the imagery of my soul taking refuge in the shadow of God's wings. Isn't that comforting? As a matter of fact, the more I picture it, the less I want to be anywhere else.

God is our Father. What better place is there for a child than in the comforting shadow of their loving Daddy's arms? David must have felt so safe and secure, so comforted.

I'd like some of that myself!

But then the next thing that screamed out to me about this Psalm was that, right after David finished asking God for safety and rebuking of his enemies, he filled the rest of his words with praises for God. Huge praises. He will praise God among the nations, all over the earth, and his heart is "steadfast".

Steadfast = firmly fixed in place, not subject to change.

Hmmm...so through his shepherding days, death threats, facing down terrifying enemies, fleeing for his life, and massacres, David remained steadfast. He remained faithful. He remained fixed--his eyes on the prize, so to speak.

Can I say the same? And my crises look so small when compared to David's.

Do I remember to praise God in the trenches? When it hurts? When it's scary?

Because even when I am in those trenches, in pain and fear, my Daddy is giving me refuge. I am safe, secure, loved.

My soul is resting in the shadow of God's wings.

I need to give Him praise. Just like David.

Have you been enjoying our study of Psalms? Do you have a favorite Psalm you'd like to talk about? I'd love for you to link up below, or just leave a comment.